The rock shelter at Shum Laka in Cameroon. Surprisingly, the ancient people who lived at this rock shelter are not related to the people in the region today. During the Stone Age in what is now western Cameroon, four children…
The mummified body of the ancient Egyptian priest Nesyamun underwent medical scans in 2018 so that a copy of its vocal tract could be made. The voice of an ancient Egyptian priest has been heard for the first time in…
Fragment of glassy black material extracted from the cranial cavity of a victim of the volcanic eruption at Herculaneum in the year 79. When Mount Vesuvius erupted in the year 79, the volcano unleashed an avalanche of gas and rock…
The leader of the excavation, archaeologist Daniele Morandi Bonacossi, and one of the panels of Assyrian carvings unearthed in the northern Kurdistan region of Iraq. Stunning ancient rock carvings that portray an Assyrian king paying homage to his gods amid…
Train tracks converge at the entrance to the Nazi death camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau. In this photo, taken in 1945, the tracks are strewn with snow-covered personal effects that belonged to the camp’s inmates. In the spring of 1944, Allied forces received…
When Luftwaffe pilot Franz Stigler had American bomber Charlie Brown’s defenseless plane in his sights in 1943, he not only let him go but then escorted him out of danger. A half-century later, the two men became close friends. Public…
By analyzing 103 skulls of early Caribbean inhabitants, experts were able to reassess when and where they settled. This, in turn, lent credence to Columbus’ infamous tales of cannibalism. Ann Ross/North Carolina State UniversityExperts analyzed the skulls of early Caribbean…
This woman was buried with her head resting on a pillow, suggesting that she held an elite position in her community. Archaeologists have uncovered what may be the graves of 50 enslaved workers who labored at an elite Roman villa…
The Hebrew writing on this jar says that it belongs to a man whose name can be translated as “Benayo” or “Benayau.” A 2,800-year-old jar inscribed in Hebrew with the Yahwistic name “Benayo” has been discovered at Abel Beth Maacah,…
The Pachacamac idol, long thought to be destroyed by the Spanish conquistadors in 1533, was discovered in 1938. A basketball-player-size wooden idol that allegedly escaped destruction by the Spanish conquistadors is real — but it may not be quite what…
Ever since he discovered music created by concentration camp prisoners in 1988, Francesco Lotoro has been working tirelessly to revive every single musical note left behind. Gedenkstaette Buchenwald/United States Holocaust Memorial MuseumNazi concentration camp prisoners skilled in music were forced…
Archaeologists had some trees removed so that the palace excavation could go forward. Now, scientists may plant new trees to protect the delicate ruins. Archaeologists have found a Maya stone palace that dates to more than 1,000 years ago, according…